My messenger

Malachi 3:1
"Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,"

It has been said "No parent should ever live to see their child die." Pastor Mark observed that John and Marrissa, a young couple, know what it is like to loose a son. They know in a more personal way, the price that God paid for us (1 John 4:10). Malachi was almost 7 months old when he died last week after fighting an heroic battle to live a life that, medically,  he should have never had.

The message Saturday at at Calvary Baptist Church in Plainfield Indiana was about Malachi, about God and about us. Pastor Jeff reminded us that Malachi was the reason, but that God was the purpose we were there.  Comfort should not be superficial, but it is better to go to a house of mourning than a feast (Ec 7:2). Even in pain, we can have answers:  

1) Malachi is a reward, not a punishment. I spoke to my sons David and Sean the night before about this very passage as we talked about death and life:

John 9:2-3
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered,“ It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ."

2) Warning, Prepare to meet your God: Unless you too repent, you will all likewise perish. Death is an enemy in a fallen world. 

John 14: 6
Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me. “ I am going to prepare a place for you”,

The cross is that place. He endured what I deserve. Believe in God, believe also in me.

3) Malachi's Life and Death was worth it. God did not spare his own son, whoever believes will not perish, but have everlasting life. When Jon and Marrisa see their son in Heaven, and they ask him that question, he will smile and count his suffering as but a light affliction compared to the price paid for him, and say yes, it was worth it.

Your life, hardship, sufferings, beauty from pain.....is worth it.  Thank you Malachi for the message. Thank you Jesus for Malachi.

Refulgent: To shine "back"

Words that shape ideas.....

Refulgent

From Latin refulgentem, present participle of refulgeō, from re- (“back”) + fulgeō (“shine”).

Resplendent, or shining brightly and radiantly.
(figuratively) As if giving off light or warmth.

"She had a refulgent smile."

To shine "back"
Hmm..

Grace and Mercy: From God's heart through friends

Praying with my new friends last Wed night, they spoke a thought from my heart I could not complete. Just an hour earlier when I met their son, on the frisbee golf course I stumbled trying to remember the words that elegantly describe how grace and mercy fit together.

Jon Handy prayed "Thank you God for your Grace (giving us that we do NOT deserve), and Mercy (not giving us what we DO deserve). "

Jon and Tami went to pick up their daughter Megan in Pennsylvania from bible college this week. They Love God, for the right reasons: grace and mercy.  Lets be thankful for the friends God brings us.

Shine: Malachi

They seemed like a nice young couple, I had NO idea.

At church Sunday John and Marrisa sat in front of us.  They said their son was in Riley Hospital.  I found out tonight why.  His name is Malachi, and he has lived through more in his 7 months of life than most of us will ever have to endure....but he has endured.  His young parents are walking with God through the pain, the fear, the unimaginable.  Malichi, you see should not be alive according to the doctors.  He was born with:

• Holes in his heart
• Trachea connected to lower esophagus, upper esophagus not connected
• Bilateral optic nerve colobomas. (minimal vision)
• Missing thymus gland (concerning for immune deficiencies)
• Underdeveloped inner ear structure (minimal if any hearing)
• Severely thinned corpus callosum, and brain bleeds at the forehead

His mom wrote this.... on their blog:

" The most probable outcome is that Malachi will die of an infection before his first birthday--news that absolutely no parent is ready to hear. We have obviously gone through a roller coaster of emotions lately and have mostly been out of sorts, not really knowing how to comprehend and digest all of this." .... "Medically, there is no reason that Malachi hasn't already been attacked by a fatal infection. God has a purpose for our baby and we are completely overwhelmed with the responsibility that comes with being a steward of His child. " ...."It amazes us that people all over the world are sharing in this crazy journey with us. Your love and support are overwhelming--in the best sense of the word!"

I see faith, gratitude, glory to God. Do you?  We shine like stars in the universe (Philippians 2) without arguing or complaining, though we burn and are consumed, until there is nothing left but God.  This my friends, is Christianity.


Read more here:
http://malachisharbaugh.blogspot.com/